Skin Deep
by Nikki Cardelle
Summary: A young college student moves from a small farm town to the "Sin City" life . Her passion isn't the only thing she's figuring out as she meets a male college student who brings out a side of her she never knew about.
1. Chapter 1

"No! No! No! No! No!" I screamed, waking up from the same nightmare I've had for years, yet I never remember it after waking up. I knew it was the same one, cause after waking up, I had a sense of De Ja Vu in my system that I couldn't shake. This doesn't bother me for too long though, for I put the thought aside and walked from my morning lit room into my small bathroom. I don't turn on the lights because my head is spinning to fast to want to deal with adjusting my eyes to the brightness. Turning on the faucet, I was my face to begin my morning routines.

After breakfast, which was steak and eggs that I scrambled up from my personal groceries, I headed out the door to school.

"Oh my God it's Karen!" said a tall teenage boy wearing a shirt by Element and his hair in a small Afro. I almost laugh as I think he could have played a good Napoleon Dynamite.

"Hey Fred, how have you been? Haven't seen you in a while." I said pleasantly walking to my car.

"Your the one who never comes outside anymore. I've been good by the way. So can I ask were your headed off to?"

"Well, it's my first day of college. Say, you graduated last year. Have you enrolled?"

"No not yet..." He looked a little upset as he said this.

"Oh." I said a little saddened. Something was wrong though and I was vaguely concerned."I have to go, but text me or something later ok. I want to catch up."

"Sounds fine, catch you around" Is what I heard as I stepped into the car and closed the door. Smiling and waving I drive off.

College was defiantly a new experience for me. I had never heard of a school with campuses in different areas of the city. To me it seemed pretty useless, but I had no choice. There were a lot of things I was going to have to get used to since I moved to the well populated city of Las Vegas from the small farm town of Roberts, Wisconsin.

"Woh oo!" I hear as I pulled out of my car"Look at the paint job on that beauty."

Looking over I see two guys drooling over someones dark blue mustang that sparkled a hint of deep purple in the sunlight. That wasn't the only thing they were sure to notice. The rims were black with the same dark blue spinners still going showing that the car hadn't been there for over ten minutes.

I resisted the urge to get a closer look at the vehicle as well. Instead I proceeded into the doors of a small orange building that looked new to me, but probably ancient compared to the two other industrialised looking buildings surrounding it.

Walking in I go to the right and walk down a couple hallways to a more secluded area away from the food court and main offices.

The room for my history class was small with probably only thirty desks, most of which were already taken except for a few in the front. I managed to squeeze my way through the desks and students, most of whom glared at my attempts and made no effort to shift positions. Feeling awkward and out casted I sat down in the seat closes to the middle of the rows of students. Just a few seconds later, the teacher hurried in and most of the students sat up alert.

"Sorry, sorry, I''m so sorry." said the woman flipping through papers on her desk"Let's see. Assignment, syllabus, scratch paper. Ah! here we go." She stood alert with a clipboard that she attached a paper she grabbed out of the pile.

"For those of you who don't already know, my name is Rebecca Stewart and I will be your History teacher for the semester. So, let's get to know one another. We'll start with the young man in the back and work our way up. First say your name, what school you graduated from, and what your majoring in. Okay, let's begin shall we?"

I slouched back in my chair as I heard names, voices, high schools, high school drop outs, and dream jobs. Already bored I started drawing on my canvas paper until I heard my neighbor finish her small introduction. I sat up straight only to eagerly get back to my drawing.

"Umm. Hi. My name Is Karen May, I graduated from Roberts High, and I'm majoring in mechanics"

"Oh that's nice. It's not very often we see women who find mechanical work a desired profession. Good for you." She smiled. I watched her as she moved onto the next student. As I watched her check of the student's name, I couldn't hel[ but notice that she appeared young for a teacher. My guess would be between 27 and 30. She dressed modestly. Her long brown hair pulled back in a braid, make up was very natural(if she was wearing any), a light blue shirt with jeans a dark denim and boots with a small heel to them.

After hearing everyone's small bio, she checked off the last name and asked us to open our textbooks to a page at the beginning of the textbooks.

"Today were going to study the theory of evolution." She said with a small smile. "I know this is a very controversial topic. Please keep you opinions to yourself. If we manage to do so, you will all be able to leave earlier then the debate group."

I opened my book, set it aside to the very front of the desk, and continued with my art. I smiled at the small grey and black version of the mustang I had seen in the parking lot.

"And lastly I will hand out today's assignments that are due next week. Please read Chapters 2 and 3 next week, which will be following the syllabus I'll be handing out with the assignment."

After class I retraced my steps back to the front of the building and made my way into a large open area where a couple fast food places were located.

"Mother!" I hear. I focus to see a young brunette teenager running up towards me. She stopped about halfway with a confused look in her eyes. Did I seriously look like her mother? I didn't know if to take this as an offense in a way, for I thought I didn't look old enough to have at least a child as old as nine.

"I'm so sorry." Pleaded the girl"You see I have this friend and we have an inside joke where I call her mother. You looked a lot like her. especially the red bangs and the black hair."

"No problem" I responded still feeling quite awkward.

"Anyways would you like to sit at the table with me and my friends after you grab something to eat?" She pointed at a circle of student who looked much older then the girl, except for one sandy blonde teenage boy who looked no older then 18

"Umm, I would but the table doesn't seem to have any empty chairs except for one. I'm assuming that would be your seat anyways."

"Oh no!" She exclaimed widening her eyes which revealed a shade of blue that reminded me of ocean water. "We could pull up extra chairs. It wouldn't be a problem really. We do it all the time." She smiled faintly.

"Sure, if you insist."

"Great! see you soon" She turned to grab a chair positioning it next to hers and sat down to converse with her friends.

I ordered from the small authentic Mexican chain and went to the table with the group of about seven other students, including the young girl.

"Yea, you see I live with my single mom now. I was home schooled before so this whole college thing. It's totally a new slate for me. You're all probably sick of classrooms, But-"

"Oh Hi!" Said the brunette."We were starting to wonder if you weren't gonna come down"

"Sorry, My food took a while for them to prepare." I said sitting down.

"Wow! Taquitoes? They look good. Next time I'm gonna have to try that place. The burger stand isn't all that great in my opinion. Anyways these are my classmates Tyson(Pointing at the sandy blonde who happened to be sitting on the other side of me), Denise, Nicolle, Garrett, Micheal, Jason, and my long time friend Maddy a.k.a my mother" she said laughing to her self"" My name is Amanda."

I was a little shocked to hear her name. Normally I would think an Amanda would be blonde.

"And so what's your name?"

"Uh, K-Karen" I stuttered looking back at the group.

"Huh that's a nice name" whispered the young man behind me.

The group continued into conversation. Amanda went on about her early graduation at sixteen and her dreams in life. I quickly looked at Maddy to see that she did look a little like me, but was perplexed when she didn't have the red in her hair. Didn't the brunette say that was one of the similar features of me and her "mother"? I continued to eat while thay chit-chatted about hobbies and majors. When I finished I wiped my hands and pulled out my drawing to finish up some detailing. I wanted to add some flames to design the car and then include it with my collection of other automobile drawings.

"Nice art!" Said the sandy blonde.

"Umm, thank you." I replied a little shaken by the sudden enthusiasm

"It's kinda funny, wouldn't think to find a girl drawing cars. But hey, anythings possible."

"Not everything, but we're getting pretty close now-a-days" I added

"Yea, true. So where you from?"

"Roberts, Wisconsin" I answered looking down. I didn't really want to get into much detail. I was growing tired of all the introductions and new people.

"Wisconsin? Wow that's a ways away." He said looking up at the high ceiling.

Still looking down, I noticed a long narrow scar on his right arm.

"How'd you get that?" I asked, immediately slapping myself on the inside. I usually don't dig into other peoples life. For some reason the scar really sparked my curiosity.

"Oh, it's kinda a long story. I got it boating with my parents while trying to sail from San Diego shore to Catalina Island. To make it short we hit a storm along the way."

"San Diego to!-" I replied in a tone that was both in shock and fear. "What the hell were you thinking!"

Apparently I said that loud enough for not just him to hear, but the whole table. The group stopped their discussion to suddenly listen in and gaze at both me and Tyson.

Tyson's face went red. Now I felt guilty and wanted to cower away at my sudden boast. What's wrong with me today? Maybe I should of had that cup of coffee.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now." He whispered looking down.

"Tyson, I'm so sorry. It's just, I happen to know that area. Please forgive me, I didn't mean to-"

"No. Please don't."

There was silence at the table. So much so, I could her a girl across the dinning hall squealing about a guy she met in class who asked for her number. Slowly the group started back to conversation. Mostly trying to figure out what the sudden outburst was about. There was some gossiping among the two guys across from me, but I canceled it out and focus on the design of the mustang. After a couple minutes, Maddy sat up and excused herself saying that she needed to get to her next class. Everyone said their goodbyes, quickly looked at me again, and continued conversing.

Instead of drawing I slid the papers back in my backpack and stood from my chair to leave.

"Hey, I hope you enjoyed yourself." said Amanda with a concerned tone.

"Kinda." I replied. Amanda looked at me a little discouraged that the meeting didn't go so well.

I walked out of the cafeteria, through the front doors, into the parking lot where I saw my car. I bee-lined to the front seat, started the car and drove, eager to get as far from the school as possible. Pulling up to the drive-way, I went straight to my room, throwing my bag on my chair.

This was seriously the most embarrassed I had felt in a long time. without focusing on homework or my history assignments, which I was planning on doing, I collapsed on my bed, wetting the pillow with tears.

"I want to go home!"


	2. Chapter 2

*knock**Knock**Knock*

This sound was the very thing that woke me up from my pathetic downfall. *Sigh*

I Slip out of bed to see a shadow in my window, the same tall, afroed figure from earlier today. With my window being right next to the door, It was easy for me to spy on the person waiting. Instead of rushing through the house, I simply pulled back the curtain and opened my window.

"Hey Fred, What's up?" I sounded like I had just woken up.

"Oh, hey. I was expecting the door but this works too" He winked. This made me a little uneasy for I knew he had a minor crush on me ever since I had moved in the the neighborhood of trailers.

"I just woke up, It's been a long day."Trying to sound a little more awake.

"Really? Man your one of the smartest people I've ever known"He looked like he was more of thinking this to himself "That kinda brings down my motives of even wanting to go to college now, knowing your first day was in the dump."

"Lets just say you have more charisma skills then I do. I'm sure you'll do just fine." I said catching myself in a smile.

He laughed meekly"Well you realy think so? Naw your just sayin' that to make me feel better. Well hey I know you don't get out much, would you like to grab a bite to eat. You've told me once before that you like Wendy's and my family is about to drive down there. We have room in the car for one more."

Oh no. Another meal with a group of people. This did not sound like a good idea for the way my day is going.

"I would, but I just spent my last few dollars on mexican fast food. It was a little more expensive then I had planned."

"Oh, no worries!" His brown eyes glimmered from as much light as they could suck up from the dusky patio"I gotchya covered" Not to mention his smile just about took up his whole face.

My stomach suddenly made it's demand for food.

"Ok, sure. Let me brush my hair." Closing the window I made my way to my bathroom and pulled out a large green brush and quickly brushed it smooth. Looking in the mirror I realized that my black eyeliner and mascara had streamed down my pale skin. Smeared as well, I was shocked that I had talked to Fred looking like such a mess. Quickly wiping off my face with a cloth and make-up remover, I also realigned my clothes to make myself a little more presentable. Fred's family was a nice bunch. I had meet them once before.

I ran through to door where Fred was waiting for me and walked down my street a few houses to his own.

"I thought you were going to text me, not make a suprise visit." I said starring at him.

"Yea, I'm sorry. I kinda wish I did now. I felt bad having you just wake up and answer the door. I see you've cleaned up" He said a little ashamed.

"No problem I guess. At least now you've seen me at me worst" I half joked.

"Karen! It's so nice to see that you came to join us." Said Freds mom. Her bubbly personality made up for her slight plus sized figure. She had short, wavy brown hair that went perfect for her round face. Sometimes people don't get the best of their natural apperances, but she manages to complement herself with her style. "You look nice, I see you got your hair done."

"Just added a couple highlights" At first I thought the red looked nice agianst my black hair. After today's little incident, I was somewhat regretting the new fashion.

"The red is a little dark right now, but it's actually a color thats fades quickly. Your gonna have to go in and get it redone once every four weeks at least."

"I don't really know if I'll do it agian after it fades, but thank you for the information."

"Oh, well I hope I didnt discourage you. If you want I could re-dye it for you every now and agian. It just so happens I used to be a hair stylist."

"That's why your hair looks so nice" I complimented with a smile.

"Why thank you. We should get going though. It is getting late and I'm sure you have homework to do. Unless youve already done it." She said while climbing into the passenger side of the White Ford Explorer as Fred opened the back door for me. While buckling up He laughed as he heard my stomach complain once again.

"Hello Karen."

The voice came from the driver's side of the vehicle. It was Fred's dad, the older, dark blonde and slighty shorter version of Fred.

"Hello, thank you for letting me tag along."

"No problem." He smiled, looking over to his wife.

"Thank you" I said after a couple minutes of driving, listening to the parents chit chat about their day at work."For being my friend since I moved in. I'm sorry I haven't been around much, but I really appriciate it."

"Oh, no problem. This neighborhood is kind of a 'everyone knows eachother' thing. You just don't hang around much to notice."

"I'm just more of a person who seems to enjoy myself indoors as much or more then going out."

"Ah. What do you do all day. I mean it must get borring."

"I draw and scetch out models of automobiles. I sometimes work on my own make and models. I kinda think it would be cool to start my own car company, but that a little un-realistic to me. I also play video-games-"

"Let me guess, Need for Speed, Grand Turismo, Grand Theft Auto?" He said half anticipating my response.

"Those are good games, but I play rockband and sims mostly."

"Your good at rockband?"

"And I love to kill my sims" I stated with a saddistic smirk.

"Your an interesting character."

I laughed as we pulled into the Wendy's parking lot. We walked into the lobby area, placed our orders and sat down. Fred pulled back a chair close to his for me to sit down. I'm starting to wonder if he still has that crush. After sitting down, he sat down on the seat right next to mine.

"On the way home we're going to have fred drive. He's still excited about having his license" Informed Fred's mother.

"Ok" I responded, letting them know I was fine with it.

"That means you get to chose the music on the radio, but it doesn't mean you can waste the lifespan of all our eardrums." She joked

Fred laughed. In the meantime I was really enjoying my hamburger. I listened as Fred asked his dad about attending a basketball game with some of his friends from the neighborhood.

"Could I come to?" I asked, half thinking.

"Yea, sure. Doesn't really sound like your type of thing, but if you want to come your more then welcome. Randy likes lot's of people comming to play. He's one of those 'the more the merrier' type of people."

"Cool. I haven't played basketball in years, so I might be hecka rusty."

"So yea, we are leaving tommorrow night at seven."

"Sounds good. I should be able to catch up on my homework by then."

As long as I dont have another meltdown.

After dinner we climbed back into the car. Fred's parents told me to take the front passenger seat as they both sat in the back of the vehicle. After starting the car, Fred turned on the radio. First he chose the rap station which was currently playing Cyclone by T-pain.

"Do you like anything other then rap." I snickered.

"I am a big fan of A7x" He said timidly.

"Ah! Cool. Avenged Sevenfold is quite a good band."

"If you want to, you can change the station."

"Please." I started to turn the knobs to listen to some hard rock.

*She laid down on the fresh lawn,

She can make everything magical...*

"Heard Puddle of Mudd before?" I asked

"Who's that?"

"The band that plays this song"

*A paranoid pshyco,

I'm the one, I'm the one who is..*

"I have heard this song before, but didn't know who did it."

"Do you like this song?"

"It's alright." He shrugged

"Oh ok.."

The radio kept playing, going into commercials after the song. Once we pulled back into the neighborhood it switched into song again after a small concert announcement.

*this world will never be

what i expected

and if i dont belong

who would have guessed it.*

"So what does Papa Roach do?" Fred asked.

"Umm, a few popular ones you should be familiar with. Why?"

"Just curious. I heard that they were comming into town with Avenged Sevenfold and Three Days Grace in a couple weeks from the concert announcement."

"That's gonna be a really good concert. I bet tickets are also really expensive."

"Only 90 for general admission they said."

"Thats alot of momeny in my world." I said looking out the window as we passed my house.

"Don't worry, I'll walk you home" He said.

"Fred, that was rude of you. You should have asked if she wanted to be dropped off at her fron door." Fred's mother scolded.

"Oh no, It's fine really. It wouldnt hurt me to walk half a block anyways." Trying to fend for my friend.

"Still, he should have asked." she added as Fred pulled up into his driveway.

"Did I park well?" Fred asked his parents.

"Your a little close on one side, but I'm sure your dad can squeez through." Laughed his mom.

We all got out of the car and I said my farwells to Fred's parents before he walked me home.

"Did you enjoy your meal?" He asked

"Yea, it was good. I really do enjoy their bacon burgers."

"So your for sure tagging along with us to play football tommorrow right?"

"Of course, I'll see you tommorrow." I replied as we walked up my patio. It smelled of cedar chips, as I had just layed some down on the front area that was probably once grass. I try and keep the house in order.

"It's funny how hot girls are always moving into this house."

"Huh?" I couldn't say much else. Usually it's forty year old men that make that kind of move on me. What was a real shock, was the burning in my cheeks as I felt myself blush. I didn't even have the slightest interest in this guy.

"Sorry, I was just thinking of an old friend that used to live here. Her mom died and she had to move to her dads house. It's probably who you have to pay rent to. Do you know the name of your landlord?"

"I don't remember. All I know is that it is a female that lives close to North Las Vegas."

"I really don't remember where she moved to, I'm pretty sure it is her though."

"Did you have a crush on her or something?" I smirked.

"I did, but she showed no interest in me. The only time she did, was when she was dared by my friend Chase to kiss me."

"That's a second grade move."

"Chase is pretty immature." he laughed.

We stood for a moment on my porch listening to the sound of wind-chimes from the house across the street.

"I'm going inside." Unlocking the door to reach inside and turn off the porch light and turned around to look at him from the door frame.

"See you tommorrow." he waved as the jumped off the porch

"Later."

I closed the door and looked in the empty living room. A clock on the wall showed that it was 8:06 . Watching the second hand, I was debating on doing homework or going to sleep. If I did homework tonight, I would be able to finish in time to go to the game. I finally decided that I was refreshed enough to work on my homework.

It didn't take long to answer questions for chapter one. I read the second chapter and went to bed, setting my alarm clock for 9:15. My class in the morning didnt start till 10:15. I wished upon the spots on my ceiling that my day tommorrow will turn out better then today was. Then I gave in to sleep and fell into dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

The week dragged on as well as the classes. The only major change was when sitting for lunch with the spunky Brunette Amanda, somehow the tables doubled its population. Also My Friday class was unusually social. At the end of this psychology class, everyone knew each others names. It helped that the class was fairly small. Tyson also shared this class with me. To my surprise, even after the Friday incident, he sat next to me. I hadn't talked much to the group of friends at the lunch table. Forced to join, I kept my sketch pad close to me and just kept to myself.

"Hello fellow future psychologists! You can call me Dr. Fraterson or Dr. Fry for short." Announced the Instructor. "Let me give you a short bio, we'll get each others names, proceed to the lecture, and then play a game to wake everyone up for their next class."

"Ode to joy." I whispered.

Tyson slightly cocked his head to the right(t words me) showing that he acknowledge my comment. He then reached in his backpack and pulled out a small notebook with an Angel drawn on the light blue cover. As he flipped through the pages I didn't see anything pertaining notes from classes, but instead conversations he has had with other students in class. I glimpse words like "Tattoo", "girl", "hair", "sketched", "English", "sailing", and "red". After a half written note, he quickly finished it and then slipped it to me under the desk.

"I have been a psychologist for 12 years. I spent 7 of those years in Rancho High. Who here went to that particular high school?" Dr. Fry asked.

Tyson was the only one to raise his hand.

"Ah, I knew you looked familiar, didn't your hair used to be shorter?"

"Used to be" Tyson replied in a deep monotone voice.

I continued the "note passing" procedure and read the elegant handwriting.

"Woh." I couldn't help but to say softly. The letter was so beautifly written compared to the rest of the notes in the notebook.

"Something wrong?" Tyson whispered.

"Oh no, your calligraphy is amazing!" I also whispered.

"Can you read it please." He sounded a little impatient.

That was new. I haven't heard Tyson on edge before. So I quickly went beck to reading the note. In the meantime the class was going around saying they're names and why they were in psychology.

"I know we hit things off a little strange. I'm not pointing any fingers, or judging in any way. Who's fault it was for last Monday I don't care. I really want to get to know you. It's strangely eating at me to ask you this. Would you consider letting me take you out this weekend to Long Beach? I know it's sudden, so if you can't I understand."

This caught me off guard. I thought for sure he didn't want anything to do with me after the Monday incident. The fact that he had started the note before class, there was obviously a lot of thought put in the note. I could only stare at the piece of paper, now immune to the beauty of the handwriting. My thoughts were completely taking over. I don't want to lead Tyson on, because I'm not really looking for a relationship. Does he just want to go as a friendly invite though. I kinda wanted to get out of the house, and I was very eager for some reason to learn about the scar. Something inside me really wanted to ask him about it and find out the full story, even though it's none of my business.

A sudden nudge broke me from my thoughts.

"Oh, umm." Trying to remember what was going on."Oh. My name is Karen and I'm majoring in mechanics, as well as taking psychology as a minor."

"Oh, that's fascinating. So not only do you want to know how the gears in the car works, but also the function of the most complex feature in the human race."

"Yup, sounds about right." I said in a tone that barely reached the instructor.

"OK, next."

"I'm Taking Psychology because I used to be in Dr. Fry's meetings back when you used to lead the "Damaged Teens" group. It really inspired me and now I want to follow in your footsteps. You really helped me out in my life. Thank you."

"No problem. I'm so glad you've joined my class and I hope you do well."

"Thank you."

"Next"

So he had something tragic in his life where he had to had therapy? Interesting. I made up my mind while they were talking. I pulled out my pen to reply to the note. I said that I would like to join him and to give me a call this evening and that we would figure things out from there.

The Instructor went into lecture and everyone pulled out there notebooks and prepared to take their notes. Some of the students were already laying their heads on their desks. Tyson kept to himself after the note passing and I went to my drawings. I was modeling a Yamaha motorcycle with a skull and flame design on the side. I was starting to think I should bye some colored pencils from the bookstore.

"That is all for the lecture today. It's a light one compared to what we'll be talking about in the next few weeks. Psychology is a very in depth subject. So let's take a 10 minute break and meet back here at 1:20 and we'll go into the game"

"You you want to go to the bookstore?" Tyson asked me.

"Sure there's actually some stuff I want to get from there. "

"KAREN!" I heard as I walked out the door.

"Oh hey Amanda." Both me and Tyson said simultaneously.

"Awww, aren't you guys so cute. You two have the same class together?"

"Yup" Tyson replied with a smirk.

"Are you guys done?"

"No we're going to the bookstore. She wants to get some things and I'm out for a snack."

"Can I join?"

"Sure" I said

Tyson looked at me disappointed but dropped it quickly and we walked to the bookstore. There was actually a nice set of colored pencils. They were a little expensive but I still wanted them so I grabbed the pencils and headed to the coolers for a Sobe.

"Mother!" I hear as I pull out the orange cream flavored beverage.

I turn to see Amanda attacking her friend with a hug. For such a small girl she seemed to have a never-ending energy to her. At least from what I witnessed.

"Daughter!" Maddy Replied As she opened up her arms to welcome the flying hug. She must have been used to this since she caught Amanda perfectly and twirled her once, setting her back down after-wards effortlessly. I believe that I wouldn't have been able to control such amount of force coming from the Amanda's flight.

"Are you gonna grab a Sobe?" Amanda asked Maddy

"Naw I want to save my cash." Maddy Replied

"I'll buy you one!" Amanda rushed to the refrigerator and pulled out a strawberry Daiquiri and a flavor I didn't recognize but was red. It reminded me of the Cranberry Grapefruit flavor but I was sure it wasn't.

"Oh look! She grabbed one, too. I've never tried that one. Though I always have wanted to. I bet they taste like the fifty-fifty bars they sell in the ice cream trucks." Amanda Closed her eyes and licked her lips."Mmmmm"

"I bet they do." I replied

"Karen! We're gonna be late for class. Hurry up please!" Tyson yelled from the cubby area by the front entrance where students leave their backpacks.

"Oh! sorry. See you later girls." I said as I rushed to the registers. There wasn't anyone in line so I just walked up to one and the Lady checked out and I walked fast t words the exit. Tyson gently grabbed my arm and ran me down the halls and before opening the door whispered in my ear giving me chills.

"I can't wait till tomorrow"

We arrived just in time. some students were still missing.

"OK I'm going to give you a piece of index paper and pen, if you don't have one already. Can I have you, Tim, hand these out." He handed the pens and paper scraps to a very skinny, tall, brunette with hair swept across his face and raise enough on one side to expose and eye.

"Oh OK." Tim replied. as he took the items and handed them out to the classmates. As he did so, he smiled at one of the girls in class when he handed her the paper. I heard a slight giggle and he continued.

"I want you to write down what you fear most and then put it in the hat on my desk."

The class spend about two minutes before every one had finished and the last person placed their paper into the hat, who happened to be Tyson. I watched him fumble with his paper. Whatever it was, it seemed to be to much for him to even bear thinking about.

"OK I put a few bogus ones in there as well. Each person is going to draw a paper and pick a person in class who they think has the fear and why they chose that person. Mary would you like to go first?" He asked the girl who Tim had smiled at.

"Our teacher caught on with names quickly" Tyson stated quietly with the intention of only me to hear.

"I Fear darkness." The girl said quietly. She stood looking over the class, twirling her long bleach blonde hair. Her brown eyes landed on another girl with medium length brunette hair with a neon blue headband. Her shirt was pink and that's all I could figure from only being able to seeing her backside.

"I would say her with the blue headband" She smiled

"Why would you chose her?" Asked Dr. Fry.

"Well I'm only judging from her appearance. The only thing that's dark on her is her hair, and I'm sure it's only because it's naturally that color." She said meekly.

"OK thank you for your opinion. Please take a seat."

The instructor called the students one by one by name. There were a few strange ones and I tried to figure out which ones were the bogus ones, if there were really any of them in there. I was starting to wonder. Suddenly the instructor made direct eye contact with me. "Karen? Would you like to be next?"

"Sure." I stood up from my chair and walked over to the desk and pulled a paper from the fedora. I quickly read the paper without saying a word until I finished reading.

"What happens when we pull ours?" I asked the teacher.

"Fold it up again and put it back." He instructed with a slight smile

I did just that and picked up another piece of paper.

"I have hemaphobia." or was it homophobia. The handwriting on this paper was awful, except for the peace sign carefully drawn in the lower right corner. I looked at the students sitting in the classroom. It obviously wasn't Tim, since I saw scars on his wrists indicating self-mutilation. I picked a woman in her early twenties with long and straight red hair, very light skin, freckles decorating her face, and black glasses with green gems decorating the corners. "Your name was Alexis right?"

She meekly nodded which caused some of her hair to fall over her face. With a simple twist of her head, she whipped it out of her face. This made a few guys drop their attention and focus on her for a split second.

"Yea, I say she has this one." As I put the paper on the desk Dr. Fry ordered Tyson to be next

We crossed paths and he slightly bumped into me which made me a little off balance. He quickly turned to put his hand gently on my back.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered

"Sure" I said and walked the rest the distance to my seat as he pulled a paper to read. I glanced at the clock and realized we were supposed to have been out one or two minutes ago. I pulled out my phone to check on the real time, and it was defiantly two minutes past class-time. I sighed as I put my phone back in my pocket and put my hand to my face, trying to look as bored as possible. Then I noticed a small folded paper on top of my Psychology text-book. I picked it up as I heard the words "I am afraid of what I believe lingures inside of me."

My blood ran cold. Why would destiny pull its trick of putting my very fear in the hands of the kid who wants to know more about me. I continued to look at the paper with a phone number and a note written in Tyson's handwriting saying "Call me tonight please."

"I believe this is Tim's. He just looks like the type who would have this fear." Tyson stated. and then dropped the paper on the desk and walked back to his seat. A few students started packing their backpacks, making a mild ruckus in the room of papers and zippers.

"Well it seems I went a little over this week. I hope to see you all next week and have wonderful weekend." Dr. Fry concluded as he picked up his fedora, dumped the remaining papers into the trash, put it back on, and sat in the chair of his desk.

I quickly stuff the paper in my pocket with my phone and grabbed my books to leave.

"Someones in a hurry." I hear Tyson yelling at me trying to catch up with me in the hall.

"Sorry, I don't stay any longer then I have to in these classrooms. I prefer the dullness of my bedroom more then the lectures." I remarked

"OK, well then, I'll talk to you tonight." he winked and went the opposite direction. I walked out of the school, to my car, and drove home. While driving I blasted the car with music. As I walked into my room at home, my phone started vibrating.

"Hello?" I answered

"Hi, It's Amanda!" I hear on the other side. In the background I hears a dog barking and voices telling it to be quiet.

"What do you want?" I tried asking in a polite manner.

"Are you busy this weekend? Me and the friends from CSN are going to lunch at Jerry's Nugget. Would you like to join us?"

"Which group of friends is it?"

"The ones you've met this week. Oh, but Tyson wont be there, he said he'll be busy."

"No thank you, I don't live by North Las Vegas plus I am busy as well tomorrow." I didn't want to tell her I am hanging out with Tyson. I don't find it necessary for her to know what's going on in our personal lives, at least mine.

"Aww that's too bad. Well I'll see you Monday Have a great weekend." She said cheerily

"You too" I hung up

I had the sudden urge to take a nap, completely forgetting to call Tyson. Until I open my eyes from being abruptly awaken by a fierce wind against my window. I looked at my clock from across the room.

"Shit!"

It was just after eleven.


End file.
